1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector having an operable member and to a connector assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lever-type connector assembly has first and second connectors that are connectable with each other. The first connector has a housing and a lever is mounted to the housing to assist in the connection of the first and second connectors. The lever typically is U-shaped and has two cam plates formed respectively with cam grooves, and an operable portion that connects the two cam plates. The cam plates are mounted rotatably on supporting shafts at opposite side surfaces of the housing so that the lever is right outside the opposite side surfaces of the housing. The lever first is set at an initial position, and cam pins that project from the second connector are engaged with the cam grooves of the lever. The lever then is rotated to a connection completing position, and a cam action between the cam pins and the cam grooves pulls the connectors toward one another. A connector with such a gate-shaped lever is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-180930.
The above-described connector can have an operable portion with a resilient lock for locking the lever at the connection completion position. The resilient lock is deformable along a direction normal to a rotational axis of the lever and engages the housing or the second connector when the lever is brought to the connection completing position. The resilient lock also has an unlocking portion. The two connectors can be separated from each other by pushing the unlocking portion with a finger to deform the resilient lock and to disengage the resilient lock from the housing. Thus, the lever can be returned toward the initial position.
Efforts have been made to miniaturize the above-described lever-type connectors by forming the entire lever as a single plate. Such connectors are likely to have a resilient lock that is resiliently deformable along a direction normal to the rotational axis of a lever, as in the prior art. The unlocking portion desirably should have a large area to facilitate actuation by a finger. However, a larger area for the unlocking portion necessarily increases the thickness of the lever, and therefore impedes miniaturization efforts.
The invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to provide a connector and connector assembly with a good unlocking operability while enabling an operable member to be thinned.
The invention relates to a connector that is connectable with a mating connector. An operable member is mounted on the connector and is held at an initial position for engagement with the mating connector. The operable member then is moved to a connection completing position to pull the two connectors toward each other and to connect the two connectors by a cam action effected between the operable member and the mating connector. The operable member comprises a resilient lock for locking the operable member at the connection completing position. The resilient lock is formed with an unlocking portion for canceling the locked state of the operable member. Additionally, the resilient lock extends substantially along a surface of the operable member and is resiliently deformable at an angle, and preferably a right angle, to the operable member surface. Accordingly, a large area can be secured for the unlocking portion without increasing the thickness of the operable member, thereby providing a good unlocking operability.
The operable member preferably is a lever rotatably mounted on the connector.
The operable member preferably is in the form of a single plate, and hence provides a thin dimension, as compared to U-shaped operable members. Additionally, the resilient lock extends substantially along the plane of the operable member and is resiliently deformable at an angle to the plane of the operable member. Thus, a larger area can be secured for the unlocking portion without increasing the thickness of the lever, thereby providing a good unlocking operability and supporting miniaturization efforts.
A finger placing portion preferably is provided at one end of the operable member and near the unlocking portion for moving the operable member from the connection completing position toward the initial position. Thus, the unlocking operation can be performed easily by one hand.
The finger placing portion preferably is at a leading end of the operable member and the unlocking portion is more toward the base end of the operable member. Accordingly, the unlocking operation can be performed, for example, by pushing the unlocking portion by the thumb of one hand and pulling the finger placing portion by the forefinger of this hand.
The operable member preferably has at least one cam plate with at least one resilient locking piece that is engageable with a housing of the connector to hold the operable member at the initial position. The resilient locking piece preferably is resiliently deformable at an angle, and preferably a right angle, to a rotation axis of the lever. Accordingly, a space needed for the resilient deformation of the resilient locking piece is reduced and no space is needed for permitting the resilient deformation of the resilient locking piece in the thickness direction as in the prior art. As a result, the connector assembly can be made smaller.
The resilient locking piece preferably is resiliently deformable in a direction different from the lock, and preferably substantially normal thereto.
The mating connector may have a cam means for engaging a mating cam means in the cam plate. The cam means may be a cam pin and the mating cam means may be a cam groove in the cam plate.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments.